Japanese carmakers benefit from German cars' deteriorating credibility

Posted : 2017-08-07 16:04

Updated : 2017-08-07 17:46

The 2016 Lexus ES300h hybrid sedan / Courtesy of Lexus

By Jhoo Dong-chan

Japanese carmakers are enjoying sales at the expense of mounting suspicions of German carmakers' possible collusion on technology as well as the resurfacing "diesel gate" scandal.

German auto brands once dominated the nation's imported vehicle market with their diesel-engine models, but are now losing market share to Japanese carmakers' surging popularity in the hybrid-engine category.

According to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA), five Japanese brands _ Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Nissan and Infiniti _ recorded a 22.5 percent market share last month.

One out of five imported vehicles sold in Korea was a Japanese car, a stark contrast from their 2014 figure of 10.85 percent. Back then, German auto brands had the upper hand in the market with diesel models such as the BMW 320d, Audi A6 and Volkswagen Golf TDI.

The German premium carmaker duo Mercedes-Benz and BMW still topped sales among imported auto brands last month with sales of 5,471 and 3,118 cars, respectively.

Japanese luxury carmaker Lexus and its parent brand Toyota jumped into third and fourth place by selling 1,091 and 1,047 cars, respectively. Another Japanese auto maker Honda placed sixth on the list by selling 1,001 cars last month.

Of the imported vehicles sold here, the Lexus ES300h hybrid sedan saw sales of 660 to become the best-selling car last month.

In the meantime, German auto brands had a 50.2 percent market share last month, down 7.4 percent from the same period the previous year, according to KAIDA.

"Japanese carmakers faced a nosedive in sales following the 2010 massive recall, but are now coming back to the market," said a Toyota Korea official. "They are gaining attention for their eco-friendly technology in hybrid and gasoline engines after the diesel gate scandal in 2015."

Following Daimler Group's massive recall of more than 3 million diesel-powered cars to lower their emissions with Audi also carrying out a voluntary recall of 850,000 cars in Europe this year, German carmakers, once again, have become the center of controversy for possible collusion following a series of related probes taking place around the world about the technology used in the cars.

Korean customers have also called for an investigation into the top German carmakers on suspicions of alleged decades-long collusion on technology, strategy and parts to gain an advantage over their rivals.